Investigation of electrospun piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) nanofiber-based nanogenerators for energy harvesting

Abstract

A piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) from thin poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) polymer fiber films synthesized by the electrospinning method demonstrated the enhanced output. The β-phase content in thin films that is essential for piezo responses in polymers was analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging. The results showed an extremely high 92,8% of β-phase content in P(VDF-TrFE) thin films. The fabricated PENG device using P(VDF-TrFE) film demonstrated an outstanding peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage (Voc) of ∼25 V and short-circuit current (Isc) of 0.3 μA under 3 N applied force. The device could produce a maximum power density of ∼125 nW cm −2 under a 6 N load. The maximum voltage of ∼100 V was achieved with the compressive force of 20 N. Moreover, the ability to charge 0.1 μF capacity to ∼6.5 V within 180 sec was demonstrated under an external load of 6 N at 5 Hz. It can be concluded that the improved piezoelectric performance of PENG was achieved due to high β-phase content and the optimized synthesis route. The obtained electrical performance of PENG demonstrated its potential for powering low-power electronic devices by scavenging mechanical energy.

Keywords

• Energy harvesting
• Piezoelectric nanogenerator
• P(VDF-TrFE)
• Electrospinning